Polarizing former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick officially has an NFL job offer on his plate — it’s just not the one he’s been pining for.
Los Angeles Chargers head coach Jim Harbaugh revealed that he was looking for something of a reunion with Kaepernick.
(Harbaugh coached Kaepernick in San Francisco in the mid-2010s, where the two almost won a Super Bowl together.)
However, given that the Chargers have one of the top young quarterbacks in football in Justin Herbert, it makes sense that Harbaugh wouldn’t want the distraction of a 36-year-old Kaepernick vying for a roster spot.
A coaching position would be a much cleaner fit for the former quarterback — and that’s what was apparently offered.
Speaking to USA Today after a team practice, Harbaugh explained that he thinks Kaepernick would fit in nicely as a coach.
“If that was ever the path he was to take, I think that would be tremendous,” Harbaugh told the outlet. “He’d be a tremendous coach, if that’s the path he chose.”
Apparently, this offer has been on the table since January, when Harbaugh returned to the NFL after a successful stint at the University of Michigan.
Harbaugh just hasn’t gotten a response yet.
“Yeah, we talked a little bit about it,” Harbaugh said. “He’s considering it. He was out of the country. He said he was going to get back to me.
“We haven’t reconnected since then. That was early, early in the year.”
Harbaugh, no stranger to controversy, clearly isn’t worried about whatever negative press may accompany hiring a quarterback perhaps known more for kneeling during the “The Star-Spangled Banner” than his lone run to the Super Bowl.
After all, it was under Harbaugh’s supervision in San Francisco that Kaepernick first began protesting the anthem as a form of social activism.
Many have already forgotten (and forgiven and moved on), but Kaepernick’s stunts had a tangibly negative effect on television ratings for some time, exacerbated by others mimicking the protest.
Could Kaepernick’s highly-polarizing personality fit as an assistant coach?
That question — and Harbaugh’s offer — may go unanswered, however, if Kaepernick’s recent remarks are anything to go by.
“And will we see you play [in the] NFL again?” a Sky Sports interviewer asked him.
“We’re still training, still pushing. So, hopefully, we, uh, just got to get one of these team owners to open up,” Kaepernick, who has not played football since 2017, responded.
Kaepernick added: “I mean, it’s something I’ve trained my whole life for, so being able to step back on that field, I think that would be a major moment, a major accomplishment for me. Also, I think it’s something that I could bring a lot to a team and help them win a championship.”
The former Niners quarterback could still “bring a lot to a team and help them win a championship” as a coach, and the offer is there.
It’s just not the offer he wants.
Kaepernick turned down an offer from the San Francisco 49ers to stay on the team in 2017 because he wanted more money.
Later that year, the Baltimore Ravens were on the brink of making a contract offer to Kaepernick when an ill-advised tweet caused an irreparable rift. Kaepernick’s girlfriend, Nessa, compared Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti to a slave owner.
In 2018, then-Broncos general manager John Elway revealed that Kaepernick turned down an offer to come to Denver. Kaepernick reportedly refused to take a deal for less than his $11.9 million annual salary.
Also in 2018, he was scheduled to work out for the Seattle Seahawks before his refusal to stop kneeling for the national anthem caused the Seahawks to cancel his visit.
Kaepernick would go on to sabotage several major opportunities to re-enter professional football in 2019, making a series of outlandish location and publicity demands when offered opportunities to work out before NFL scouts and requesting a $20 million contract when approached to play in two upstart spring leagues, the Alliance of American Football and XFL.
Kaepernick continues to call the NFL a modern slave trade, and yet, he also continues to claim that he wants to be given another chance to continue his NFL career. Kaepernick is a phony race hustler.
WHAT A JOKE
LA Chargers, here’s hoping you go 0 and 17!
HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA …
guess the old adage rings true here… them’ that can, do … and them’ that can’t, coach.
put him in a mascot uniform/costume and he would most likely screw THAT up as well.